Safe Ride Home
by BroodyAndCheeryForever
Summary: They had been best friends for seven years, but after a day of realization and a night of bravery they found what they never knew they could have, love. Brucas One-Shot.


**A/N: I wrote this awhile ago and just found it on my laptop so I decided to post it! It's just a one shot, but I figured its just cute and simple and a little refreshing considering the point of the story that Baby, You Wouldn't Last is in right now. I hope you all like it! Review and let me know!**

**I do not own One Tree Hill, its characters or the song used in this story.**

**Summary: They had been best friends for seven years, but after a day of realization and a night of bravery they found what they never knew they could have, **_**love**_**.**

* * *

_I'll be your safe ride home _

_When you call me_

_I'll be everything and more _

_When you call my name _

**Safe Ride Home**

Brooke Davis and Lucas Scott had been best friends for years. They both remembered the first day they met vividly, but that doesn't mean when asked they tell the same story.

According to Brooke, it was the first day of seventh grade. She claims that she had been taking amazing notes while her English teacher read over the class syllabus. Lucas obviously noticed her great note taking skills, and asked her if he could copy them. With one look into his brooding face and piercing blue eyes she told him that he could feel free to take his own notes. The rest was history.

But when Lucas told the story, it was just a little different. He agrees that it was in fact the first day of seventh grade. He was sitting in English class, paying attention as the teacher spoke seeing as it was in fact his favorite subject. But he soon was interrupted by a pat on his shoulder from behind. He turned around, and Brooke was staring at him, a wide mischievous grin on her face. She lifted up a folded note, asking him to pass it along to her friend Bevin. Lucas claims the teacher then caught them, giving them both a pass to afternoon detention, saying even though it was the first day of class, it didn't give them a right to interrupt it.

But it didn't really matter. They had the perfect friendship. She was the Cheery to his Broody. She was the cheer captain, while he led his basketball team to the state championships.

Brooke taught Lucas how to have fun, and Lucas taught Brooke how to take life seriously. Brooke loved to party, and was an all around social butterfly. Lucas was more reserved, and took his schoolwork very seriously. They hung around in the same social circle, and where ever Lucas was, Brooke was there too.

Lucas and Brooke had been there for each other through everything.

**B&L**

One night when they were juniors, Brooke laid awake in bed, listening to her parents screaming match downstairs. She heard numerous household items crash into pieces against the wall and wanted more than anything to escape. She closed her eyes tightly, covering her face with her multicolored comforter, willing her mom to pass out from the alcohol or her father to just leave already. More than anything, she wished she could be saved from it all. A dinging sound from her nightstand pulled her out of her thoughts, she sat up in bed, leaning over and reaching for her cell phone.

_You Okay?_

_11:43 P.M._

_Broody Pants_

Brooke read the text message, still finding it weird that they could read each others thoughts like that. Whenever she was having a hard time, he knew. And it was the same for her when it came to Lucas too. There had been countless times when she just _knew _that Lucas needed her, and every time she had been right.

Instead of replying back to Lucas' text message, she climbed out of bed, pulling a soft grey hoodie over her head and securing her long brown hair into a messy bun. She opened her bedroom door, and sure enough, the screaming hadn't ended. She closed the door, instead walking over to her bedroom window and sliding it open with ease. She climbed out silently, walking very carefully along the windowsill and jumping onto the balcony of the house. From there she reached out, grabbing onto the green oak tree firmly, and climbed down to the ground. She had been escaping out of her bedroom window since she was 12, and now she didn't even have to think about it.

As she walked down the silent streets of Tree Hill, she stayed quiet. She listened as the autumn wind blew leaves off of the trees and as cars in the distance drove by. Her hands were still in the large front pocket of the sweatshirt, and she wasn't surprised at all when she saw Lucas walking towards her on the sidewalk.

"How'd you know?" Brooke asked in a whisper as soon as she got close enough to Lucas.

He just shrugged, "Do you want to come back to my house?"

Brooke nodded, closing her eyes for a moment as Lucas slung his arm around her shoulder, knowing that his broken friend would need a shoulder to cry on.

**B&L**

In the middle of their senior year, Lucas had gone home, happy to tell his dad Keith that they made it to the basketball finals. He opened the front door, smiling like a complete idiot, and searched throughout the house. It was Thursday, and that meant his dad would be home early from the dealership, and his mom would take the afternoon off from her café. They always spent Thursdays together as a family, but today the house was way too quiet.

After checking the downstairs floor of his house twice, he jogged up the staircase. He almost walked right past his parents bedroom when he caught his moms figure out of the corner of his eye. Lucas backtracked, stepping inside the doorway.

"Mom, I have great news" He said happily, his face falling as soon as he noticed the upset look on her face. "Where's dad?"

"He's gone Luke" Karen said, her voice emotionless as she stared straight through her son.

"What do you mean?" Lucas asked angrily.

"He isn't coming home" Karen said plainly, her eyes hollow as she spoke.

Lucas shook his head, "No" he said, holding his hands up and walking backwards out of his parents bedroom. "No, that's not right" he said again. He was staring at his mom, watching as she nodded her head yes.

And that's when he started running. He ran down the hallway, and down the stairs. He ran out of his house, his legs carrying him straight to the River Court. He stood in the middle of the small basketball court, his head in his hands. He didn't know how long he had been there when he heard someone approaching.

He looked up, sighing loudly when he saw Brooke.

"You needed me?" She questioned, her eyebrows furrowed. As soon as she noticed the broken expression on his face, she opened her arms, letting her hurt friend fall into them.

"My dad left us" Lucas said, tears finally starting to spill out of his eyes.

**B&L**

They were there through the good times, and the bad times.

Brooke was there for Lucas when his parents got divorced, when he found out he had a heart disease, and when he broke up with his first major girlfriend. But she was also there when he made the basketball team, got a _way _too high score on his SATS and won the state championship.

Lucas was there for Brooke when she was too drunk to walk straight after a huge party, he was there through every fight her parents had, and picked up the pieces after guys broke her heart. But he also watched as she became senior class president, kicked ass in a New York fashion show for up and coming designers, and became more than just a popular, bitchy, party girl.

When it was time to apply for colleges, Lucas was obviously a shoe-in. With his amazing grades and basketball skills, he basically had his choice of schools. He was thrilled when he got a full ride scholarship to Duke, and was even happier that his HCM was under control so that he would be able to play basketball there.

But Brooke was a different story. Sure she had wanted to get out of Tree Hill practically her whole life, but she realized too late that college would be her chance to escape. Her GPA was barely a C average, but it wasn't something she was going to cry over. She applied to a few schools, and thanks to her dad's power and bank account, she was also admitted to Duke.

**B&L**

"Oh my god" Brooke said, squirming in the passenger seat as her and Lucas drove towards their new school. "Seriously, Luke. This place is huge, do you realize how many hott guys and parties are waiting for us" She said with a wide grin, wiggling her eyebrows as she looked towards Lucas.

"Hott guys huh?" He asked, squinting his eyes.

"For me, _duh_!" Brooke sighed, rolling her eyes. "But I'm sure the ladies won't be able to get enough of you Mr. I'm a hot-shot basketball star!"

Lucas ignored Brooke, pulling into a parking lot that was overly filled with cars, students and parents. "Here we are" he told her, watching as she immediately pressed her face up against the window.

"These apartments have got to be the ugliest things ever" Brooke frowned, looking at where she was going to be living for the whole entire school year. "I think my parents are trying to punish me."

"At least you get to live in apartments, I have to live in dorms" Lucas groaned, waiting for a car to back out of a parking spot so that he could pull in. The place was packed.

"I don't even feel bad for you," Brooke said plainly with a shrug. "Its your fault you decided to be on the basketball team."

Lucas just laughed, "Thanks for the sympathy."

Brooke and Lucas climbed out of the car, meeting each other behind it. They stood for a few minutes, watching as eager students moved into their new apartments.

Lucas pressed his hands together as if he was about to pray and looked up towards the sky. "Please, _please_, let Brooke's roommates be hott!"

Brooke slapped him on the chest with her Chanel handbag, "Alright horn-dog. _Maybe _we should be hoping they aren't psychos for my sake, _instead _of being all pervy!"

He watched as Brooke started walking away, and he crossed his fingers. He figured it really couldn't hurt if she had hott roommates. It would be like payback for him putting up with the crazy brunette for the last seven years.

Brooke turned around, placing a hand on her hip and giving Lucas an annoyed look. "You coming?"

Lucas nodded, jogging to catch up with Brooke. "Alright, what number are you?"

Brooke dug around in her bag, pulling out a yellow post it note. "Well, since my parents couldn't wait to get on their vacation, they already checked me in and paid the bill" She explained, she then unfolded the post it note, "Looks like I'm number 241" she said with a shrug.

"So I'm guessing that's the second floor" Lucas told her, taking control as he always did. They climbed up the stairs, counting the numbers on the doors until they stood in front of 241. "Alright, you ready?"

"More than ever!" Brooke said happily, pulling a key out of her purse and turning it in the lock. They walked into the tiny apartment and Brooke's cheery mood immediately changed. "Lucas" she frowned, stopping immediately in the way too small living room. "This is like the size of my closet."

Lucas just laughed, patting his best friend on the back. "Poor Brookie," he frowned, "I think you'll live though princess. But look, at least the kitchen is a decent size."

While they were surveying the apartments kitchen a girl with golden brown hair entered the room. Her hair was long, with large wavy curls. She was wearing cute jeans, not designer Brooke could tell, and a plain t-shirt.

"Hey, I thought I heard someone come in!" The girl said happily. "What's your name?"

Brooke grinned, lifting her hand in a wave. "I'm Brooke, this is my friend Lucas."

"Oh, cool! My name is Haley. We are the first two to arrive. I was worried I wouldn't get here on time, so I left pretty early. I already have all my stuff moved in, but when I got here there were like these boxes just piled up. I don't even know where they came from!" She rambled, moving her hands around as she talked.

Brooke turned to Lucas, her eyes wide and he looked at her with amusement, obviously getting a kick out of her roommate. She then looked back at Haley, "Oh, those are mine. My parents came and dropped them off last week."

"Oh! That was nice of them. But I think you might have brought like too much stuff" Haley said with a shrug, looking around the small apartment. "So, since we are the first two here and you seem pretty normal, do you want to share a room?"

Brooke raised her eyebrows, still upset that her parents didn't get her an apartment where she could have her own room. She knew they just did it so she would hopefully not do naughty things with boys in the same room as one of her roommates.

"Yeah, that sounds good" Brooke said, smiling a little too forced and a little too sweetly.

"Great! Let's get you moved in then" Haley smiled, linking her arm through Brooke's and leading her down the small hallway and into a decent sized room.

Lucas followed Brooke and her new roommate into the room. He was getting a kick out of this girl. She was really nice, but loved to ramble on about nothing. Brooke was a big talker too, and if these two became friends he knew it would mean trouble.

"So are you good here?" Lucas asked, leaning against a wall in Brooke and Haley's bedroom.

Brooke poked out her bottom lip. "You aren't leaving me yet are you? I mean it would be really great if you helped unpack all of my shoes."

"I don't wanna be here all day" Lucas joked, taking a slap on the arm for his comment.

"I'll help you unpack!" Haley grinned, flopping down beside Brooke on the twin bed.

"Alright, go" Brooke said to Lucas, waving her hand at him. "But you better call me after you meet your roommate, I want details."

"Don't worry, I will" Lucas sighed, "I'll talk to you later B."

Brooke lazily flung an arm around Lucas, pulling him into a side hug. "Don't get into any trouble without me" She said with a wink.

**B&L**

Lucas walked through the hallways of the dorms, wishing that Brooke was with him. He finally walked up to the door that led to where he would be spending his nights at Duke. He knocked lightly, the resident advisor telling him that his roommate should be in there already.

"Hey, you must be Lucas" A tall guy with dark brown hair said as he pulled the door open. "I'm Nathan Lee."

"It's good to meet you" Lucas said, walking into the dorm behind Nathan. There was a small living room that had a countertop along the back wall with a microwave and cupboard. There were two doors, leading to two separate and tiny bedrooms. He was glad he at least didn't have to share a room like Brooke did.

"So, are you a freshman too?" Nathan asked, tossing a small basketball between his two hands.

Lucas nodded. "Where are you from?" He asked, sitting down on the couch next to Nathan.

"I'm from Oregon" Nathan shrugged.

"Whoa, that's pretty far" Lucas said with wide eyes.

"Yeah, I wanted to get as far away as possible" Nathan explained. "Where are you from?"

"I'm from Tree Hill in North Carolina, you've probably never heard of it."

"Nope." Nathan said as if he didn't really care in the first place. "So, I heard about this kick ass party that the juniors on our team are throwing, do you want to go?"

Lucas shrugged, "Sure. I'll call Brooke and see if she wants to go."

"Who's Brooke? Your girlfriend?"

"Nope, just a friend."

**B&L**

"Knock knock" Came a voice from the front room as the door opened.

Brooke and Haley both looked at each other with a wide smile before jumping up from the ground and running to the front room.

"Hey!" Haley grinned. "You must be our new roommate, what's your name?"

"I'm Peyton" The tall, skinny girl with bouncy blonde curls told them.

"I'm Brooke, and this is Haley."

"Now we're just waiting on one more!" Haley grinned, grabbing onto Peyton's hand. "Come on, we'll show you where your room is!"

**B&L**

"I'm guessing you played basketball in High School?" Nathan asked as Lucas started to unpack his things.

"Yeah. We won our state championships-"

"_I _led _my _team to our state champs _and _won" Nathan said cockily, cutting Lucas off.

"I was the captain of my team too actually" Lucas said, eyeing Nathan wearily. He couldn't decided if he liked this guy or not. One minute he seemed way chill, and the next minute he was a complete cocky ass.

"Have you seen all of the girls around here?" Nathan asked with a wide smile and a sort of twinkle in his eye, "Can you even imagine how much ass we are gonna get."

Lucas gave Nathan a tight smile and a nod, not surprised at the words that came out of his roommates mouth. This just made Lucas even happier that they had their own rooms. He could tell that Nathan would be bringing any willing girl back to their apartment that he could.

"Seriously, basketball and hott chicks" Nathan grinned, tipping his head to the side. "What could be better?"

**B&L**

Haley and Brooke were now helping Peyton unpack her things. As Brooke was hanging the clothes in the extremely small closet, she frowned. Between Peyton and Haley she wasn't going to be able to borrow either of their clothes. Haley's clothes were about as plain as they came, and they left _everything _to the imagination, which was a shame, because from what Brooke could tell, Haley had a good body and should be showing it off. And then Peyton's clothes were so depressing she didn't even want to touch them. Enough said.

"Geez," Haley exhaled, "How many posters do you actually have?"

"That's nothing compared to my record collection" Peyton smiled.

_Well_, Brooke thought, _at least we know what makes her happy, I haven't seen this girl smile once_.

They heard the front door open, and Haley looked up, a smile immediately growing on her face.

"I bet that's our new roommate!" She exclaimed, dropping the poster to the ground and hurrying out of the room.

Brooke followed Haley out, needing to get away from Peyton's closet. As they walked down the hall and into the living room, they were met with a line of guys walking into the apartment carrying boxes. Brooke smiled, biting on her bottom lip. The guys were definitely hott, and she liked what she saw.

"Where should we put these?" The guy in the front of the line asked, smiling directly at Brooke.

Brooke eyed him up and down, from his amazing calf muscles to his surfer-like blonde hair and tan. Before she got a chance to answer, a slim girl with red hair pushed past the boys, an annoyed look plastered to her face.

"Where's my room?" She asked, looking at Brooke and Haley as if the girls were driving her crazy already.

"Its down the hall and to the left" Haley smiled, obviously not noticing the way the girl was looking straight through her. "I'm Haley, and this is Brooke. You are going to be sharing a room with Peyton, she's in your room now. What's your name?"

"Rachel" the girl said, giving Haley a tight lipped smile. She then turned to face the boys, "You heard the girl, just move all my stuff into there."

At her words the line of guys immediately started moving again. Brooke stepped back, watching as the five guys walked past her, all of which were extremely gorgeous. Haley followed the guys down the hall, leaving Brooke and Rachel in the living room.

"God, I'm glad at least one of my roommates has decent taste in clothes" Brooke said, sounding relieved.

"Yeah, that Haley girl is a piece of work" Rachel smirked, deciding that maybe the brunette across from her wasn't as bad as she thought she'd be.

"Props for getting all of those guys to move your stuff in for you" Brooke laughed.

"You know guys, as long as you have boobs they'll do whatever you want them to do" Rachel said with a roll of her eyes. She suddenly smiled, stepping towards Brooke, "Do you have a blender? Because I can make some kick ass margaritas."

**B&L**

As soon as Nathan got hand-held weights out and started doing bicep curls, Lucas thought he was going to go crazy. With their small living room turned into a make-shift gym, Lucas decided he had to get out of there.

"I'll be back in a little while" Lucas told Nathan, figuring his roommate could care less.

"Don't forget, party tonight" Nathan said, resting the weights back on the ground. He stood up, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "Just be back here by eight, and we can head over there."

He was lucky, his dorms were just on the outside edge of the campus, and were only about a fifteen minute walk to Brooke's apartment. There were students everywhere, and seeing everyone rush around was making Lucas even more excited to start school. He was excited to play basketball here, but was looking forward to his classes even more.

When he got to Brooke's apartment complex, he noticed that the crowd that had been there earlier had died down. There weren't as many cars in the parking lot, and he figured that most of the parents must have gone home. He walked up the stairs to Brooke's apartment, and rested his hand on the doorknob. But then he remembered, this wasn't only Brooke's apartment, and he probably shouldn't just walk in. With four girls living there, it probably wasn't safe to just walk in anyways. He didn't know what a group of girls did when they were alone and behind closed doors, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to find out now. So he let go of the doorknob, and lifted a hand to knock on the door.

"Hey" Lucas said, shoving his hands in his pockets, happy that it was Brooke that answered the door.

"Broody!" Brooke grinned, "Come in!"

Lucas eyed her suspiciously, she was normally cheery, but she seemed to be extra cheery. But he figured that was a good thing, she must be having a good time with her roommates, and he felt bad for interrupting. But when he stepped into the apartment, he watched her make a bee-line for the kitchen where a red head was leaning with her back against the counter and saw Brooke pick up a glass filled with a slushy looking drink. There was definitely a lime on the side of the glass.

"You do realize its only four right?" Lucas nodded towards Brooke's cup.

"Yeah" Brooke smiled, swinging around so her hair blew out to the side, "But Rachel here might as well be a bar-tender, because the drinks she comes up with are amazing!" Brooke skipped to the red heads side, grabbing her arm and smiling widely, "This is Lucas, remember I was telling you about him!"

Rachel eyed Lucas up and down, smiling at what she saw. "You're cute" She said plainly, "You want a drink?"

"No I think I'm good for now" Lucas said with a tight lipped smile. "Did I leave that book I was reading in your room today?"

"Books are boring" Brooke said, rolling her eyes. She started to giggle, and Rachel was laughing too. "Yeah its in my room. You can go get it, I think Haley is in there reading now, go figure."

Lucas walked down the hall, and right before he turned into Brooke's bedroom, he looked across the hall to the other room. He saw a girl with curly blonde hair who was setting records on a shelf.

He walked in the room, "That is a great album" He said, pointing to the record she was holding. She jumped in surprise at his voice, then turned around, "But their first album was much better."

"No way" Peyton said with a smile, "This one is their best" she grinned, waving the record around in front of his face. "But I guess its good that you have good taste in music, stranger" she said, eyeing him suspiciously.

He shook his head, realizing that a strange guy walking into her room was a little creepy. "Sorry, I'm Lucas. Brooke's friend."

"Well Lucas" Peyton smiled, "Maybe you can help me unpack the rest of these, and we'll see if you really do know good music when you see it."

**B&L**

Brooke set her empty glass on the counter, refusing to drink another one when Rachel offered. She was just a little tipsy right now, and really didn't want to get out of control. Sure, she came to college in hopes of partying hard, but she was hoping there would at least be hott guys involved. Speaking of guys, she hadn't seen Lucas in nearly a half hour when he went in search of his book.

Brooke left Rachel in the kitchen and went to her bedroom to find Lucas. As she walked down the hall, she heard laughing coming from Peyton and Rachel's room. She looked inside the open door, and saw Lucas and Peyton sitting on the floor, a record player next to them humming a song quietly. They were laughing, and Peyton had her hand rested on Lucas' thigh. For some reason, this gave Brooke a sinking feeling in her stomach and she didn't like it one bit.

She cleared her throat, and Peyton and Lucas both stopped laughing and looked up at her. "Hey, Luke. Sorry, for interrupting. Do you want to go get a latte?"

"Yeah. Yeah that sounds good" He said, his voice changing back to his normal serious tone. He stood up, and then looked down at Peyton. "Hey, do you want to come with us?"

Brooke rolled her eyes, not thrilled with the idea of Peyton butting in on them. Peyton's smile immediately returned, and Brooke knew that look. Peyton liked Lucas. She couldn't be more obvious if she tried. Brooke crossed her arms across her chest, tapping her foot on the ground impatiently as she waited.

Peyton stood from the ground, still smiling at Lucas. "Yeah. I mean, if I'm not intruding or anything."

"No, its fine" Lucas said, smiling down at Peyton.

Brooke was definitely going to be sick.

"I mean, if its okay with you?" Lucas asked, looking at Brooke.

Brooke sighed, trying to make it known that it wasn't okay with her. "Whatever. Let's just go."

**B&L**

As Brooke, Lucas and Peyton walked back to the apartment, Brooke decided she definitely didn't like this Peyton girl. Her and Lucas kept talking about all these stupid bands that Brooke hadn't even heard of, and it was driving her crazy. And what frustrated her even more was the way Peyton laughed at her when Brooke brought up Justin Timberlake's new album. She laughed! Had Peyton never heard his cd? Because it really was good.

"Oh, Brooke I was going to tell you" Lucas said turning to Brooke as soon as they got into her apartment. "There's this party tonight that Nathan, my roommate, invited me too, and I was hoping you would go with me."

Brooke smiled, finally, a party. "Yeah of course, I'll go get ready" she grinned, hopping down the hall and to her bedroom to find something to wear.

"Party? Who's throwing it?" Rachel asked, trying to hide her excitement.

"The juniors from the basketball team" Lucas told her, "I'm sure you guys could come too."

**B&L**

Brooke and Lucas walked down the street, the darkness illuminated by streetlights. They were headed to the house where the party was being thrown, and they could tell they were getting close when they heard pounding music. Brooke was glad they were almost there, as it got later the air began to cool down and since Brooke decided to wear a short jean skirt and a halter top, she was starting to get cold.

"There are a ton of people here" Lucas observed, standing closer to Brooke as they approached the house.

Brooke grinned widely, "Good, just how I like it."

As they walked into the house, the music was deafening. The couches had been pushed against the wall, the living room turned into a make shift dance floor. There were girls grinding against guys, and even against other girls.

"I'm gonna go get a drink" Brooke called over the music.

"Alright" Lucas called back. He saw Nathan standing with three girls, and when Nathan noticed him he waved Lucas over.

**B&L**

Brooke filled up her plastic red cup for the second time, and sat back down at the table next to the blonde guy that had helped Rachel move in earlier. She had been talking to him for awhile, and she figured he'd probably get interesting as long as she kept drinking. She hadn't seen Lucas for awhile, but he had to be around there somewhere so she wasn't too worried.

She looked up from the table, and smiled when she saw a tall guy with dark hair smile at her from across the room. And he definitely had a great smile.

**B&L**

Lucas stepped pushed his way through the living room that was crowded with people and made his way into the kitchen. He had been talking to one of the girls Nathan introduced him too, but when she started slurring her words and splashing her beer, he decided to go look for Brooke. He hated when they got separated at parties, and he hoped she hadn't already drank too much. He always worried about her at parties, and his nerves grew even more when they were at parties where he didn't know everyone.

As he pushed his way into the kitchen, his eyes scanned the small room. There weren't very many people in there, just a couple people refilling their cups and a group of kids playing quarters at the table. He noticed the backdoor was open, so he decided to check out back.

When he stepped out onto the back porch, he was immediately met with the smell of pot. He looked to his left, and wasn't surprised to see a couple of the guys from his basketball team smoking. Lucas walked down the steps of the porch and saw Brooke. She was sitting on the grass with her back to him, and was talking to a guy with dark brown hair.

**B&L**

Brooke sat on the grass, her legs stretched out in front of her. She lifted the plastic cup to her lips, drinking the last of the liquid. She turned her attention back to Nathan, and started laughing at a story he was telling. He definitely knew how to get a girls attention.

He lifted a hand to her face, gently placing a strand of hair behind her ear. When he leaned in to kiss her, she lifted a hand to his chest, pushing him away, "Whoa buddy, I'm not _that_ drunk."

**B&L**

When the guy Brooke was sitting with tried to kiss her, Lucas couldn't help but feel jealous. He didn't know why, he had seen Brooke kiss tons of guys. But it was different now. It had been different for a couple of months. Every time he saw her, his heart would start pounding. He started to notice the way her legs seemed longer when she wore high heels, and the way her hair smelled like coconut. He felt weird, knowing he shouldn't be ogling his best friend, and it was even weirder to have actual feelings for her.

He couldn't help but smile when Brooke pushed the guy away, and that's when he noticed that the guy was his roommate. Lucas turned around, and started to walk back into the house. He didn't know what he was thinking, Brooke didn't like him like that. She couldn't wait to go to college just so she could meet new guys. He decided he really had to get his feelings in check.

"Luke!" he heard Brooke call, and he turned around to see her walking towards him. She caught up to him and watched as he ran his fingers through his blonde spiked hair, "Hey," she smiled playfully, tapping his chest, "No brooding. We're at a party. Come on" She grinned, her tongue between her teeth. She linked her fingers through his, "Let's go dance."

He took a deep breath, following Brooke back into the house.

**B&L**

When Brooke and Lucas left the party, it was nearly midnight and still raging. As they walked farther away from the house, the music became a soft sound in the background. Brooke ran her hands up and down her arms, the cool night are causing goose bumps to form on her skin. They had been walking for a few minutes, and neither had said a word. This wasn't unusual for them, they were such good friends and knew each other so well that sometimes there wasn't a need for talking.

Lucas looked up through the trees to the finger-nail shaped moon. He shoved his hands in his pocket, "So, Nathan huh? I'm glad you got a chance to meet my _roommate_" Lucas smirked, looking over at Brooke and watching as her mouth dropped open.

"You mean, that guy was your roommate?" She asked, the shock quickly turning to amusement. "Your roommate totally tried to kiss me" she laughed.

"Just be careful with him," Lucas said wearily, not liking the fact of Nathan even _trying_ to kiss Brooke. "I mean, the way he talks about girls-"

"Luke" Brooke laughed, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk and wrapping her fingers around his arm. "I don't like _him_" she said, stepping closer to Lucas until they were almost touching.

"Good" Lucas sighed in relief. "He's a nice guy with bad intentions."

"Lucas" Brooke said quietly, straightening her back and lifting her head trying to get her face closer to his.

"It's getting kinda cold out here, we should probably start walking" Lucas told her, grabbing her wrist and pulling her down the side walk, totally oblivious to the fact that Brooke had wanted to kiss him.

Brooke figured Lucas had to be a complete idiot. She didn't know how he had ever gotten a girl before, because he was horrible at reading the signals. Did he really think that she was dancing so close to him earlier just because they were friends. And how did he miss the fact that she pretty much admitted she liked him and then tried to kiss him. She couldn't believe how clueless he was, and it was kind of frustrating.

**B&L**

"It's pretty late" Lucas yawned, trying to keep his eyes averted from Brooke's lips. All he could think about was how they would feel on his. He shook the thought from his head, "I guess I should get going" He said as he watched Brooke unlock the door to her apartment.

"I'm not tired yet though" Brooke pouted, stepping into the apartment with Lucas in tow. "Will you just stay and watch a movie for a little bit? At least until I get sleepy?"

Lucas tipped his head back, laughing to himself. Like he could say no to her.

"Great!" Brooke grinned, from the look on his face she could tell that he would stay. She tapped Lucas on the chest, "I'm gonna go change, pick a movie."

He watched as she skipped to her room, turning on lights the whole way down. He went into the kitchen, opening cupboards just to find them empty. They really needed to go grocery shopping. From the looks of things Rachel had brought various bottles of alcohol, and there was a bunch of banana's on the counter that he was guessing Haley had bought. He opened the fridge, and was relieved to see Sunkist soda and a carton of eggs. Lucas grabbed two cans of the pop and made his way back into the living room. He sat down on the couch, resting his feet on the coffee table. He heard Brooke in the bathroom, and he figured she was brushing her teeth and washing her face. He definitely knew her too well.

"What did you decide on?" Brooke asked, coming back in the room with her hair piled on top of her head. She flopped down on the couch, folding her legs underneath her as she stared at Lucas.

"I…uh" he stuttered, not able to keep his eyes from roaming her body. He had been around her for seven years now, but the sight of her in the tiny shorts and tank top was almost too much too handle. He didn't know how he had contained himself before. "You should choose" he finally said.

Brooke scrunched up her eyes, looking at him funny. "O-Kay" She said, still keeping an eye on him as she stood from the couch. He was definitely acting weird. She put a movie in the DVD player and then laid on the couch, resting her feet on Lucas' lap.

"Where are your roommates?" Lucas asked, his hands rested on top of her ankles. "It's pretty quiet in here."

"Haley was sleeping in our room, and I think Peyton is probably asleep too cause her light is off. And I'm pretty sure Rachel was dancing on the coffee table when we left the party, so who knows if she'll even come home tonight" Brooke laughed, turning her attention to the screen as the movie started.

**B&L**

"I knew I should've unpacked my movies" Brooke groaned, leaning into Lucas. "I mean, what kind of a movie is this?"

"I think the genre is horror" Lucas laughed, watching as Brooke threw her hands over her eyes at the sight of blood.

"God, more like _horrible_."

Lucas wrapped an arm around Brooke, pulling her closer to him. "Poor little Brookie, can't even handle a scary movie." He teased, laughing as she glared up at him.

"Lucas, its more disgusting than scary" Brooke argued, sitting straight up.

Lucas' eyes locked on hers, and when he brought his fingers to her face, casually brushing the hair from her eyes she licked her lips.

"I should probably go" He said, his voice quiet and calm. He kept his eyes locked on Brooke's, and his fingers were still resting on the side of her face.

"Yeah" She nodded, still staring into his ocean blue eyes. "Yeah, you probably should" she finished, slowly leaning towards him until she could feel his breath mixing with hers. "But you _could _stay."

"Yeah" Lucas nodded, trying to keep from blinking, "I could."

He closed the distance between them, finally getting up the nerves to do what he had only dreamed of.

Their lips touched lightly at first, the kiss was so feather soft that it seemed unreal. Then Brooke lifted her hands, wrapping them around his neck and pulling away from him. Her hazel eyes sparkled as she looked up at him, "Geez Luke" she smiled, "It took ya long enough."

Lucas smiled down at her, finding it hard to believe that this was actually happening. She smiled back at him, biting on her bottom lip. He closed this space between them, this time when their lips touched, neither of them held back. Brooke pressed her body harder against Luke's, letting him deepen the kiss and explore her completely.

When breathing became necessary, Lucas pulled back, his fingers grazing the side of her face as they breathed deeply in unison. He couldn't help but just stare at her, and it made her laugh.

"What?" She asked through her laughter, her hands loosening their hold around his neck and sliding down his chest.

"Is this actually happening?"

"I hope so" Brooke said with a smirk. "Unless of course you don't want it to" She said with a kinked eyebrow and an amused expression.

"No, no" Lucas said, his words coming out rushed and almost jumbled. "I want it too, more than you know."

"So" Brooke smiled, "You _like _me."

"Is it that obvious?"

Brooke shrugged, "I don't know, I mean there's more obvious ways of showing it than just talking."

Lucas ran his hands along her hips and up the sides of her body, then with a mischievous look on his face he pushed her backwards so that she was laying on the couch. He hovered over her, his faces only inches away from hers, "Obvious?"

"Yeah," Brooke laughed, running her fingers through his hair before pulling his lips onto hers once more.

**B&L**

When Rachel stumbled back into the apartment at around 3 am, she turned on the kitchen light and realized she was missing a shoe.

"What the hell?" She mumbled, "And those shoes were expensive." She got a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water. She took a couple aspirins because from the way she felt now she knew tomorrow would be hell.

As she started walking out of the kitchen, she realized the TV had been left on and was making a weird humming noise. That was definitely not helping the headache. She walked into the room, and laughed out loud at what she saw. She couldn't believe she hadn't noticed it when she first got home.

But there they were, curled up on the couch. She figured it would be cute if it wasn't so extremely gaggy. Brooke and Lucas were laying on the couch together, and she was curled up against him. His arms were wrapped tightly around her body, his hands resting on the bare of her back where her shirt was rising up.

"Just friends my ass" She said, rolling her eyes as she turned off the TV and left them alone to sleep.

**The End**


End file.
